Brieger, Falko and Hagen, Robert and Kroeschel, Max and Hartig, Florian and Petersen, Imke and Ortmann, Sylvia and Suchant, Rudi (2017) Do roe deer react to wildlife warning reflectors? A test combining a controlled experiment with field observations. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH, 63 (5): 72. ISSN 1612-4642, 1439-0574
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Millions of animals are killed by vehicle collisions each year. As mitigation measures, wildlife warning reflectors have become increasingly popular, although clear evidence for their effectiveness is lacking. A reason for inconclusive results in the literature may be that most previous studies on the effectiveness of wildlife warning reflectors compare animal-vehicle collision rates with and without reflectors, a setting characterised by low event rates and weak experimental control. Animal behaviour can be expected to provide a more direct evidence for a possible effect of reflectors. In this study, we analyse roe deer behaviour in the presence of a blue semicircle reflector, one of the most frequently applied wildlife warning reflectors in Germany and other parts of Europe. Behavioural response to these reflectors (classified as no reaction, vigilance, short-distance flight and long-distance flight) was recorded both under controlled experimental conditions with captive roe deer and for free-ranging roe deer at road sections with traffic occurrence. We used generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs) to test if reflector presence induced threat-related behaviour (vigilance, flight) and movement away from the reflectors. We found no significant evidence that the light stimulus emitted by reflectors was perceived as a threat or induced evasive movement. We conclude that our study provides no evidence that blue semicircle reflectors induce behaviour in roe deer that seems suitable to reduce roe deer-vehicle collisions.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | VEHICLE COLLISIONS; SWAREFLEX REFLECTORS; UNITED-STATES; BEHAVIOR; ROADS; AVOIDANCE; MORTALITY; ACCIDENTS; MAMMALS; CONE; Deer-vehicle collision; Thermalnetwork camera; Road ecology; Capreolus capreolus; Experimental design; Enclosure |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 580 Botanical sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Pflanzenwissenschaften |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Dec 2018 13:19 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Feb 2019 09:14 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/2135 |
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